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William Topaz McGonagall is famous for being considered the world's worst poet - a title he strongly disputed. In fact, he would often proudly declare to a jeering audience that his poems were second only to William Shakespeare!
William McGonagall was born in Edinburgh in 1825 but, when he was a young boy, the McGonagall family moved to Dundee when his father found a job in the Dundee textile industry.
Until the age of 52, William McGonagall lived a relatively quiet, normal life, working as a handloom weaver and providing for his large family. Then, suddenly, McGonagall was struck by, as he said, 'Divine inspiration' and, as a result, wrote a poem of appreciation about a Dundee minister and philanthropist, The Rev Geoge Gilfillan.
The poem appeared in The Weekly News, a publication which is printed in Dundee to this day. This was more than enough of an accolade for McGonagall and, despite the Rev. Gilfillan tactfully saying that 'Shakespeare never wrote anything like this,' he decided he had found his calling. William McGonagall was going to be a poet.
From then on, the poems flowed from McGonagall's pen and he would often perform his latest works in pubs, bars and theatres across Dundee. Despite his own high opinion of his poems, the people of Dundee were much more critical and McGonagall's public appearances almost always resulted in him being totally humiliated and pelted with eggs, fruit and vegetables.
McGonagall was so convinced of the excellence of his poetry, he sailed to New York, confident the Americans would appreciate his talent - only to return to Dundee, penniless. He even walked 50 miles from Dundee to Balmoral Castle in atrocious weather to present a volume of his poems to Queen Victoria. He had high hopes the Queen would read his poems and declare him Poet Laureate but when he arrived at the castle gates footsore and soaking wet, he was turned away and told never to return.
In the early days of his career as a poet, McGonagall had written a poem about the construction of the railway bridge over the River Tay. When the bridge crashed into the river in 1879, he was inspired to write what was to become his most famous poem, 'The Tay Bridge Disaster'. The Tay Bridge Disaster carried all the unintentionally dreadful hallmarks of a McGonagall poem and included the memorable lines:
"Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay
Alas I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath Day of 1879
Which will be remembered for a very long time."
Even this poem did not bring McGonagall the fame and fortune he felt he deserved and he finally decided he'd had enough 'harsh treatment' in the City of Dundee. Accompanied by his wife, McGonagall moved to Perth, where he was given a warm welcome.
Despite this, McGonagall was convinced his future lay in Edinburgh. Unfortunately, the people of Edinburgh proved to be just as critical of McGonagall's poetry as those in Dundee - but much less likely to pay to hear him read his latest poem. As a result, when McGonagall died in 1902, he was buried in a pauper's grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard.
However, his obituary in The Dundee Courier finally granted McGonagall the acclaim he had yearned for, describing him as: 'The Poet Laureate of the Silvery Tay.'